A Detailed Guide To Hotyce’s New Album, ‘Red HOTYCE Cold’

If you woke up feeling uneasy, especially uncertain about the meteorological conditions of your environment – like you were hot and cold at the same time, you were shivering hysterically but as soon as you hopped into a sweatshirt, you began to sweat profusely, wonder no more, we know what’s responsible. Rapper Hotyce has just released his debut LP dubbed RedHOTYCEcold Vol.1.

As the title suggests, the album is as hot as it is cold hence the climatic instability. The 10-track project which accommodates contributions from heavyweights; M.I Abaga, Jesse Jagz and vocal powerhouse Waje saw Hotyce display a degree of depth and lyrical prowess that makes it almost impossible for one to believe it’s his first project.

Here’s a complete guide to help you answer questions about how the album came to be and the events that shaped the wordsmith, Hotyce.

Who is Hotyce?

The name Hotyce in every sense represents the rapper’s persona which he describes as “intense yet cool”. Hotyce was born in Lagos but spent his formative years in Abuja before moving back to Lagos in 2016 after bagging a degree in Economics from the University of Abuja. This was around the same time he began rapping officially.

How did he develop such a phenomenal rap skill in three years?

Although Hotyce started writing his own raps and making music just three years ago (2015), his tie with rap music goes way back. Speaking to NET over a phone call, Hotyce revealed that he is the last issue in a family of seven and his older brothers exposed him as early as the age six to rap music. He began listening to hip-hop greats like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and these influences shaped his view and helped him develop as a rapper.

More recently, Hotyce also put himself through a laudable exercise of weekly freestyles on social media which he dubbed, Friday Night Massacre. “Every Friday from 2017 to 2018, I was dropping a new freestyle video on Instagram”, he told us.

Friday Night Massacre did not only help him sharpen his skill, it also built a buzz and demand that eventually birthed the just-released RedHOTYCEcold album.

Are the songs on RedHOTYCEcold the only song he’s released?

Absolutely not. The past 730 days have seen him put out a number of impressive singles including, the gutsy, ’10 O’ Clock in VGC’ and Alhaji (a song that found him taking the commercial route). Speaking on his one-time attempt to go commercial, he explained; “In 2015 after I signed a deal with K20, we were just testing the waters. Looking back, it still sounds funny to me. Everybody was like; right now, this is the sound that is reigning why not just put your raps on it? I did it, the label dropped it, and everybody was like (happy) but deep down, we all knew this is not what I was called to do”.

Hotyce was also featured on Jesse Jagz’ 2017 album, Odysseus.

What’s his relationship with Jesse Jagz and how did their feature on the RedHOTYCEcold album come about?

Hotyce met Jesse Jagz through a mutual friend and they somehow immediately established a musical chemistry. “Definitely, I knew Jesse Jagz and I knew he knew me but we hadn’t just met. But I got introduced to him by my producer, Emmino – the guy who produced many of the songs on the project. I started going to his house and he was like “I want us to make music together, I don’t really trust these other guys out there”, I don’t know if he was gassing me up, but that was what he was saying and I was like mehn, the pleasure is all mine… Red Light happened the first day we met. We spoke first and saw a movie titled shottas which kind of inspired the jam”, the rapper explained.

How did the M.I Abaga and Waje collaborations come about?

Just like Jesse Jagz, he was introduced to both M.I and Waje by a mutual friend who happens to be new media practitioner and influencer, Noble Igwe. “Already, M.I knew me off of Jesse Jagz, but we met officially through Noble Igwe…Then he (M.I) asked if I wanted the recording to happen at my place or his. We settled for his place, booked an appointment, chilled and listened to a few songs and made it happen.

Waje was introduced by Noble Igwe as well. I had already written the hook so she just entered and killed it.”

What should fans take away from the album?

According to the rapper, he did a pure hip-hop album because he wanted to display fearlessness. He is not moved by the pop craze and hunger for astronomical numbers and that fearlessness is what he wants listeners to feel. He went on to explain that he his focused on building his followers from the ground up through consistency and up to par records.

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